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Paying for college has changed a lot in 30 years. Combat the myths with these facts.

Missy Keenan, Special to the Register
Published 2:48 p.m. CT April 18, 2018

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Tuition rates at Iowa's three public universities has increased 30 percent since the 2009-10 academic year. Rates are expected to jump again for the 2018-19 academic year.
Kathy A. Bolten/The Register

Kris, right and Keith Maggard wanted their daughters to have a vested interest in their educations. They helped Olivia, left, and Molly, seen on her graduation day at the University of Northern Iowa, pay for about half of their college expenses.(Photo: Special to the Register)

When Kris Maggard of Des Moines attended Grand View University in the late 1980s, she paid her own college and living expenses through a combination of academic scholarships, need-based grants, part-time jobs and student loans — with no financial help from her parents. She married at 19 and was considered an independent student for financial aid purposes. She graduated in 1990 with degrees in journalism and mass communication and $6,000 in student loans.

Now her youngest daughter, Olivia, is a senior education major at Iowa State University. Olivia earned some academic scholarships, but no need-based grants. She works about 15 hours a week at Fareway during the school year to cover books and expenses, and works full-time as a camp counselor during summers to contribute to her tuition.

The Maggards wanted both of their daughters to have a vested interest in their education, so they split the cost of college. They spent about $40,000 over four years on Olivia's education. Olivia has contributed an additional $36,000 — about $16,000 in cash and just under $20,000 in student loans.

“No matter how much we planned, it was still a surprise to learn how much more costly college is today,” Maggard said. “Even graduating with less than $20,000 in student loans is going to be tough on a new teacher’s salary. On any salary.”

Many parents paid their own way through college and might be wishing their kids could do the same.

You might be surprised to learn how college affordability today compares to that of previous generations.

1. Paying your way through college is more difficult for today’s students than it was for their parents.

In the 1960s and 1970s, students could work a minimum wage job for 10 hours a week during the school year and 35 hours a week over summer break to pay the entire cost of tuition, room and board at the average public university, according to a study by The Urban Institute. Because college prices are rising much more quickly than the minimum wage, working that same number of hours today would only cover a third of the costs at that same university.

2. But students should still work during college.

Part-time work won’t get you as far today as it might have gotten your parents, but it can still help defray costs and decrease the amount that is needed to borrow. And adding a few hours of part-time work to your schedule can even help you be more successful in school.

According to the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, students who work about 10 to 15 hours per week on campus are more likely than their peers — those who work more than 15 hours per week, as well as those who don’t work at all — to stick with their studies and earn a degree.

“Some parents tell me they don’t want their students to work so they can focus on their studies,” said Erick Danielson, vice president of programming at the Central Iowa Student Success Center in Des Moines. “As long as they don’t work more than 20 hours per week, working in college can help students with time management skills. And they can use the extra money to cut down the student loans they have to take out by $3,000 to $5,000 per year.”

3. Private colleges can be just as affordable as public colleges.

The average sticker price in 2017-18 is $20,770 for in-state tuition, fees, room and board at a public university and $46,950 for a private non-profit university, according to The College Board. However, very few students actually pay the sticker price for private college. In fact, 94 percent of Iowa private college students get financial aid, according to the website for the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

The relative cost of private and public universities can vary widely depending on financial need, academic achievement and other factors.

After factoring in grants and merit scholarships, Sheryl McAtee from Stuart sent both of her kids to Iowa private colleges — Wartburg and Simpson — for less than they would have paid at one of Iowa’s public universities.

“My kids really like the one-on-one attention and the smaller college atmosphere,” McAtee said. “Don’t let the sticker price of a private college scare you or your child away from at least checking out the college and seeing what they have to offer.”

4. If your student is going to college, you should complete the FAFSA.

Each year of college, students should submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The FAFSA is used by the state and federal government, colleges and other organizations to help determine a student’s financial aid package at a given college. Not all colleges require you to complete the FAFSA to be admitted, but if you don’t complete it, you won’t receive any financial aid.

“Each year, thousands of students in Iowa who are likely to be eligible for financial aid don’t complete the FAFSA,” said Gary Steinke, president of the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. "And they’re leaving thousands of dollars on the table from things like the Pell Grant and the Iowa Tuition Grant." Steinke recommends all students apply, even if they think they won't qualify for need-based aid.

Some families don’t want to include family income and savings information on the FAFSA, because they want their student to pay for college without family help. But the federal government considers very few students of traditional college age to be independent for financial-aid purposes.

“Back in the ‘80s you may have been able to declare yourself an independent student, but it’s very difficult to do so today,” Danielson said. To be considered independent in the government’s eyes you need to be older than 24, married, a military veteran, in foster care or meet other criteria.

“There’s an appeal process a student can go through if they’re in a bad situation of documented mental or physical abuse,” he said. “But just because the family is in conflict and the student moved out, it doesn’t matter. The student will still need their parents’ information on the form.”

5. Academic scholarships are more common than athletic ones — and a full-ride athletic scholarship is uncommon.

American college students receive about four times more money from academic scholarships than from athletic scholarships. College students receive more than $11 billion in merit-based academic scholarships annually, according to the financial aid information website FinAid.org. In contrast, college students receive about $3.3 billion in athletic scholarships each year.

About 2 percent of high school athletes earn college athletics scholarships, according to the NCAA. And more than half of those scholarships go to football, basketball, soccer and track.

All four of Beth Rasmussen's kids played sports in college. They all earned academic scholarships, and three of them also earned athletic scholarships — all except her son who plays baseball at Wartburg, a Division III school that doesn’t offer athletic scholarships. But their athletic scholarships paid for much less of college than their academic scholarships did.

Sports are fun for them, but it's not paying the their way, Rasmussen said. “My kids all took dual-credit courses in high school and essentially started college as sophomores. I don’t know if they would have been able to play sports otherwise because it can be really challenging to balance academics and athletics”

6. There’s a scholarship for just about everyone.

Most scholarships are for athletic and academic merit, but if you don’t shine in those areas, there still might be scholarships based on your ethnicity, interests or even the companies where your parents work.

$3,000 from the First Friday Breakfast Club for outstanding Iowa high school seniors who fight homophobia and educate their schools and/or communities about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.

$1,500 from the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs for outstanding Iowa high school seniors who demonstrate a commitment to pursuing an education and career in the arts.

$1,000 from Latinos Unidos for Latino college students from Iowa.

$1,000 from Tall Clubs International for women over 5’ 10” and men over 6’ 2”.

$1,000 from HiLine Coffee for the winning essay on “Why Coffee Makes Me a Better Person.”

$500 from the Klingon language institute for foreign language students with a passion for constructed languages like Star Trek’s Klingon.

To find more scholarships, try a search tool like the ones on the Iowa College Access Network's website, icansucceed.org.

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College expenses are increasing each year, and Iowans are going deeper into debt to finance higher education. Join us for a discussion on what you need to know as you make your college choices and how to plan for paying for it.